Pennsylvania-Philadelphia — The Knot Community

Transportation - non-limo

ace711 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:00:57 +0000

Hello! I am looking for any recommendations from experience for a transportation company. I'm only looking to accommodate myself and my fiance, so I'm thinking a sedan or classic car. Ideally I'd want to do 2 separate pick-ups - 1 from ceremony to reception and 1 from reception to hotel. If anyone has experience with this please let me know!!
Thanks!!

little boy tuxedos

rluber — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:17:38 +0000

Hi ladies!

We bought FI's tux this past weekend!!!! WOW!!!! my mouth dropped and I was teary eyed! If anyone is thinking about buying a tux for the wedding, I highly suggest the suit dept at Nordstrom at KOP mall. They were wonderful and handle all alterations! Fi got this knock out Hugo Boss tux, I have never seen him look so good.

What I really want to know is, where are you guys getting tuxedos for your little men? My 2 cousins ages 4 and 6 are in the wedding party and I was quoted $75 for a tux rental for them. I think thats ridic, especially when you can buy them online for kids for $40 which come out to about 50 with shipping. Have you any of your ordered a tux for a little boy online? I am nervous about the return if the tuxs dont fit! Is there anywhere local where you can buy a tux for a kid that would cost around $50??

thanks!!

Phila Stuff

LizandDino — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:34:21 +0000

I am getting married next July in Northeast Phila, I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas for a photographer $1500 or less. Also what about flowers? alterations? a limo? We have our church, reception, dj, my dress, invitaions (diy), programs (diy), but I still need some help. Thanks in advance!

Congrats to this week's bride!!

paprika28 — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:44:24 +0000

bballgirl8789!!

Congrats! Good luck, smile pretty and don't forget to eat! Yay! :)

Average Cost of Videographer

chart22 — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:04:52 +0000

I love my photographer, Sweetwater Portraits, but I'm spending a lot on her so I don't want to spend too much on a videographer. Photography is really important to us, but we want a videographer b/c we don't want to regret not having one. My photographer recommended Well Spun Weddings for my videographer because they are nonintrusive. I gasped when I saw that the cost of wedding day coverage in HD is $1600 & a one song film (three minutes!!!) is $695. Am I being naive? What do you think is the average cost of a videographer in philly? Is Well Spun any good?

AW: Married! Blogg'd and video recap!

rachelk456 — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:28:57 +0000

Hi ladies! We came back a few days ago from our fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii. I'm still getting my ish together, so I will be back next week to post my vendor reviews. The wedding was fantastic! Here are some sneak peeks of my photos and my video trailer. Hope everyone is doing well!

http://www.marcanthonyphoto.com/wordpress/?p=6054

http://vimeo.com/26347630

looking for an informal garden with a fountain

darcelg — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:27:55 +0000

I am looking to have a garden wedding with a fountain or water nearby. I keep finding things that are too formal. Does anyone know a site that is not so formal. I am having a small wedding 50 people or less so a huge place isnt necessary, I just want something beautiful.

Groom's Cake - Recommendations & Advice

[Deleted User] — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:56:22 +0000

Hello ladies,

I am beginning to plan my FI's cake. It will be a surprise and served at our rehersal dinner. I'm torn on some ideas. I definitely want something from his childhood so I narrowed it down to: The Goonies movie, hockey (flyers), or monster trucks. Any bakery suggestions or ideas. I would like to stay around $100-$150.

Thanks!

DREXELBROOK RECEPTIONS

gizzywines — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:55:13 +0000

Brides, please be aware that you will not be able to taste Drexelbrook's food before you put a deposit down. Most reputable caterers will do a tasting before they take your money. Not DB. My family and I went to their tasting on June 29, 2011.The bride-to-be was on the verge of tears after seeing how poorly the event was organized and after having tasted mediorce lukewarm food. She was assured that if she was unahppy with their services, her deposit would be returned. Unfortunately, she did not receive the entire deposit. Furthermore, she was screamed at. And this is an awardwinning caterer!!!!!????? How did that happen?. BUYER BEWARE!

City venues on a budget

EricandBG — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:10:01 +0000

Hi Ladies,

Can anyone offer some suggestions for city venues that are on the cheaper side? My fiancee and I are hoping for a Saturday night wedding in Sept/Oct 2012. We are flexible for a Sunday if the price dictates. We are hoping to spend no more than $140-$150 per person (all inclusive of tax/fees and bar)

Any suggestions for a Saturday evening venue in the city that would fit this price range?

Thank you all for your help!

Melissa

Repost - Wedding Items for Sale

mandy122782 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:21:53 +0000

I would really prefer to sell my items locally. Please visit my website for various wedding items for sale.

http://weddingitems4sale11.weebly.com/

Email me at wed51411@yahoo.com if you have any questions. I will also check my private messages on here but not as frequently.

Thanks ladies!

skybox at 2424 studios?

[Deleted User] — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:21:24 +0000

hi knotties!

anyone attended or had their wedding at skybox at 2424 studios? am interested and would love to hear about it/see pics!

thanks!

Dry cleaners to steam dress

lalarochelle — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:29:24 +0000

Anyone know of a good cleaners to steam wedding dresses? Preferably in the city

Thanks

Vendor Reviews!

meghantighe — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:29:58 +0000

I didn't post here very often but picked a lot of vendors based on the reviews I read so I thought I would share mine in case it helps anyone:

Venue - Glen Foerd Mansion: A+

Everything was amazing! The food was excellent, they were very well prepared. I had a personal bridal attendant who brough my husband and I all of the cocktail hour food so that we were able to try everything while still talking to our guests. We had a few minor problems during the planning process but everything was always resolved the way that I wanted it to be and the day of ran so perfectly that it negated any issues we had during the planning process. It was the perfect venue.

Florist - Natures Gallery Florist: C+

This was a hard grade to decide to give. My centerpieces were perfect. I loved them - they were exactly what I had wanted. I had only stems of calla lillies and we negotiated based on how many were to be included. She told me I would need 15 to get the look I wanted so I upped the budget for 15. When I arrived the certerpieces were full and beautiful but each one only had 12 flowers. Gabrielle was offended when after the wedding I asked her to refund me the three flowers per centerpiece. The ceremony flowers were also exactly what I had hoped for with the exception of the "carpet of rose petals" I had been shown a picture from a different wedding at my venue so I could get an idea of what it would look like. Mine looked nothing like that. There were so few petals it looked accidental like maybe someone dropped a few roses on accident. My big disappointment here came from the bridesmaids flowers. My colors were pink and orange and I wanted each bridesmaid carrying a bouquet of only one type of flower, each girl alternating pink and orange, with no girl having the same type of flowers. The bouquets were very small for their price and one of them was purple. We had to call when I saw them, and she made a new bouquet in pink to replace it but in the mean time we had to make our own bouquet using left over flowers from the rehearsal dinner for the photos. Upon arriving at the venue and seeing the new bouquet we all decided that the one we made was better. I was really excited about the flowers and think my flower budget was pretty high and while the quality and presentation of the flowers we got was amazing all in all there were some unnecessary disappointments.

Photography - Firefly Photography - A+

I loved Kathleen. We hit it off from our initial meeting. She was great at reaching out to me and contacted me to confirm everything well in advance of the date. The day of she was ontime and worked with our tight schedule. We wanted to do all photos beforehand at several different Philly locations and did not want to take any photos during cocktail hour. She got everything done and was fast and efficient. During the reception I didn't even know she was there. I can't recommed them enough.

Videography - Claire Pruitte Video - A+ (pending video)

Ray was fantastic. He called me the week before the wedding and we went through all of the details. I was nervous to have a videographer because at prior weddings they had seemed very invasive. I told Ray my concern and I didn't even know he was there until he came up to me at the end of the night to tell me he was leaving. I am so glad we had a videogrpher.

Transportation - THG Transport - C-

I guess that you get what you pay for. I went with them because they were the cheapest option and we had substantial transportation needs. We used them three different days during our wedding weekend. They were rude and disrespectful to deal with the entire planning time. When I booked I gave them my credit card from a deposit. When it was time to pay the balance they claimed they never charged the card for the deposit. When I asked for a few days to pull my credit card statements and confirm the charges weren't made (I made the reservation 6 months in advance and mastercard needed 24 hours to pull the backed records) they sent me the rudest string of emails about it. Then I had to call and email them three different times to give them the day of schedule. The day of they were ontime and the buses were nice and clean but the drivers were incredibly rude.

DJ - SilverSound DJ Mike Mandato -

We really liked Mike and SilverSound. Our wedding guests aren't big dancers and I was surprised by how many people he had on the dance floor. He played all of the songs we wanted and was a great MC. He remembered all of the little things that I had asked him to do during the wedding. It was seamless.

Hope this was helpful to some of you planning!

Vendor Reviews.... better late than never....

Bride_to_be_2011 — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 02:00:07 +0000

I got married March 26th :) Here are my vendor reviews!

Spring Mill country club A+

This venue is so great. In the off season they are very affordable. There was SO MUCH food at my cocktail hour it was amazing. so many aptz and 2 stations. And the food is so delish. everyone was raving about it! Still are almost 4 months later. The kitchen Manager Ray is very nice and always called me back right away, as did the other manager I worked with, Pam. I loved my wedding day and will recommend them forever!

Photog- Sharyn Frenkel Photography. A+++++++++++++

Ok so I am in love with her, and her husband. They take such amazing photos and are amazing people. I had engagement pics and trash the dress pics done by Sharyn as well and they are all so amazing. On the wedding day it was like I am amongst friends, because I was, they are my friends for life now. I couldn't ask for a better person to be with my on my wedding day. I don't know how I will ever pick out the pics for my album!!

Florist- Petals Lane- A++++++

Oh my goodness, I loved Brittany so much, her flowers are stunning and HUGE! I did not think the CPs would be as big as they were when I seen them at the mock up apt. And my bouquet on the wedding day was SO amazing. I was floored at how big it was. Brittany is so nice and always wrote back quickly when I had any questions. I was very pleased with everything!

DOC and stationary- Erin Proud, Proud to Plan, paper by proud

Erin is AWESOME! She is down to earth and very honest, and I loved that so much. she is very smart and always knows just how to help. She was right by my side the whole planning process and I can't think of how I would have done it without her! On the wedding day it was so great to have her by my side and have fun with getting ready. She is just awesome and I am so blessed to have her on my big day. The paper stuff I had done for the wedding day was amazing too, so pretty and affordable. I had table numbers, menus, programs, stickers for favor boxes and escort cards done and am SO glad I did. All in all great experience working with her and will continue to keep in touch with her for sure!

Video- Persempre Videos A+++++ and will be getting my video soon so that will def go up 20 stars!

Steve is just awesome all around. He is fun to be around and very very talented. I also had him come and do a save the date video of our engagement pics and that was so fun too. I can't wait to see the video this week or next week, will be so fun to see! I am not sure how many weddings he is taking on lately though as he just had a baby with his wife and also works for the coast guard but def try to get him for your wedding, you won't regret it!

DJ- DJs available (Joe Moser) A+++

Joe really kept the party going all night long, he was very good at reading the crowd and did his job very well. He djs at clubs and restaurants as well as weddings and other parties. I will actually go to his other venues just to hear him spin again!! He is very nice as well. So that is very important. The company in general is so nice to work with, the owners are very quick to respond. I also used them for uplighting and the owner came to meet me at the venue to show me the colors! So accomodating! Can't go wrong booking them!

Jill Kozar from Up your do A++++++++++

She is amazing, and totally gets inside your head to know what you want to do for your hair style. I go to her all the time now for color and cuts. She is super nice and talented. I had my hair done a few times now and wouldn't go to anyone else for a special do for a night out.

Dylan michaels, MUA A+++++++

Cindy Singer is so talented and is so nice. She was so nice every time I met with her and really wanted to make sure I was happy with my make up on the trials and on the day of. She make my mom, MIL, and MOH look so nice but still looked like themselves. Very pleased with her!!

BoGos w/o Lighting Packages

livins — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:32:37 +0000

I need some information on getting a BoGo for my wedding at the Phoenixville Foundry. My fiance and I do not want to purchase a lighting package and only what the mongram for our dance floor. I have heard back from vendors that they will not come out if it;s only for that one thing and I would need to purchase a package. Does anyone have any vendors that might be willing to do this for me?

Wedding locations

RebeccaHutchinson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:54:50 +0000

Has anyone heard of the barn at birchwood, in collegeville, PA.? do you think it's pretty reasonable for a wedding?
thanks, REbecca

heels to flats

rluber — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:10:30 +0000

Hi ladies! The shoes I am wearing for my reception are super high! They are the jimmy choo 5 inch platform peep toes! While they are my prized possession and oh so fabulous and surprisingly comfy - after taking hours of pictures and standing in place for 25 min for the ceremony and the cocktail hour, I am sure my tootsies will need a break. I want to change into flats, but my mom brought up a great point that my dress will be hemmed to the heels and once i change into my flats the dress will be too long. How have some of you dealt with this and how do the rest of you plan on dealing with this issue? thanks!!!

DIY Wedding Albums

firegrl43 — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:00:15 +0000

This question is for any of you ladies who chose not to get a photography package that included an album, instead choosing to make one yourself. The photographer I'm leaning towards includes an album in the package but its super plain and basic (one image per page, no different layouts, etc). My fiance especially likes the look of some of the nicer albums we'd seen with other photographers particularly albums where a photo can spread across the two page layout. So basically I'd like to make something a little nicer than a standard Snapfish album. Anyone know of other sources (online or otherwise) where I could use my dvd of images to make a nice album??

XP Bridesmaids Lunch

kristinrotondo — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:23:38 +0000

Question: Is a bridesmaids tea/luncheon/whatever a total requirement? I'm not totally opposed, but I am totally broke. So, if it IS a necessary piece of the pre-wedding shebang, do you have any inexpensive ideas?

Thanks!

Social Security Name Change

Bean32 — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:24:17 +0000

For all you married ladies - Do I need to bring anything with me besides my certified marriage certificate and my drivers license? It doesn't look like it on the form, but I don't want to have to go back.

Also, did you get your new card during the visit or did they mail it to you?

reception times??

darcelg — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:30:47 +0000

Does anyone know of a reception venue for a small wedding less than 50 people.? I dont want a huge elaborate reception, but I DO want it to be nice, just not too formal and expensive. Does anyone know a venue that allows for a shorter length reception as well I cant see having a 5 hr reception or paying 65+ for a few hrs? ANy help is more than appreciated. Thanks.

Alterations in Philadelphia

ace711 — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:25:25 +0000

Can anyone suggest a trusted and affordable tailor in Philadelphia or just outside the city? I have one bridesmaid dress that needs to be hemmed and two other dresses that I'd like to have straps put into.
Thanks in advance!!

Items for Sale

wicked+faery — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:41:31 +0000

I have some items for sale left over from my wedding. they're all listed in my bio under For Sale
I am willing to negotiate prices!

Live Music for ceremony/cocktail hour in bucks county, pa- suggestions?

AmyJ820 — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:21:01 +0000

Hi! Im looking for any ideas you may have where we can have live music for the ceremony and cocktail hour only. FI and I are considering a harpist but I would want the cocktail hour to be a little more lively! We'd still like the ceremony to be elegant and clasic but the option of cocktail hour being a bit more upbeat. Any suggestions? We are in the Doylestown area. Thank you!

DKS29****

J&J061303 — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:51:19 +0000

I just seen your post asking about the Philadelphia quartett club. If this is the same one I am thinking about that's ran by P & P catering, I am having my wedding catered by them at one if there sister venues called "the towsend room". We went to see the quartett club when we where looking and it's really nice. They just re-did the entire inside of the space and I think they are even holding outdoor ceremonies as well. I have never attended an event personal catered by p & p but I do live in the area and I have heard nothing but great things about the food and staff. They are also on Facebook under p & p caterers. They show you pictures of each of there rooms set up for weddings and even upgrades they have done for weddings. Best thing is they are really reasonable and and a family owned business. Sorry if this is a book! But Goodluck planning everything!

Garden Wedding in the Philadelphia Area

msphina — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:08:51 +0000

Hello ladies!

I'm writing to find out if any of you know of a good venue for an outdoor/garden wedding in the Philadelphia area. Any help you can give to me would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much.

Seraphina

Wedding timeline

spanglerwedding2012 — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:29:51 +0000

Ok - I know I keep asking about timeline & gap in the day. Finally came up with a "good enough" plan....I hope! Please share any input.

12:40 - Shuttle arrives to transport OOT and fam to church
1:30 - 2:30 - Wedding + Receiving Line
2:30 - 2:45 - Family Pictures
2:45 - 4:00 - Friends and locals explore Manayunk
3:00 - Shuttle transports OOT family back to hotel (40 mins)
3:40 - Guests arrive at hotel, freshen up
4:30 - Shuttle arrives to hotel for OOT guests
5:00 - 6:00 - Cocktail Hour
6:00 -10:00 - Reception
After reception, shuttle takes hotel guests back to hotel.
Party continues (if they wish) at hotel bar.

During gap: Across the street from church is a park. Half a block down hill is Main St Manayunk - we will provide a map of "our favorite places" so friends and locals that drove may shop, grab a drink, mingle. They have the option to drive to reception themselves or hotel to be shuttled to reception. They will have 1 to 1.5 hours in Manayunk (depending on whether they choose to use hotel shuttle or not). Check-in to hotel can also occur at this time if it hasn't already.

Whew. Does this handle the gap ok?

Ceremony-only Venue Needed

ChristineDM807 — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 22:43:18 +0000

Hi Ladies-

I am getting married in November of 2011, yes THIS year and I still do not have a ceremony location! Eeek! My primary problems are that I need to "neutral" location for my fiance to get married since it is an interfaith wedding and his family feels strongly opposed to a church. At this point, I am distraught because not only can I not find anything that I like- but I also didn't want to go this route in the first place! I am looking for something relatively close to the Conshohocken area because that is where my reception is being held. I would like something visually appealing and I just haven't been able to find ANYTHING! Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe a random castle I haven't heard of, an arboretum with an indoor location, a place that will be able to accomodate 220. (I know, I know- I'm swimming against the current here....) Arcadia University (a castle in Montco) is unable to hold an event during the school year, Curtis Arboretum is too small for my number, and Morris Arboretum still hasn't returned my call yet.

Any ideas are TOTALLY welcome! Thanks!

passport name change?

kiskra — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:31:08 +0000

So it doesn't cost anything to get a new passport after a name change? Do you have to turn it in? More importantly....do they keep it? I don't want to give it up....I have stamps from all over the world.